10-24-2009, 03:09 AM
To be honest, I haven't played many modern games that haven't lasted as long as I hoped or expected, even when unfamiliarity is accounted for.
[rantmode]Except maybe Summon Night Twin Age. I got it thinking I could use a nice non-Mega Man/Pokémon RPG for my DS and that it looked at least a little entertaining, but I cleared one of the two characters' stories in under ten hours thinking "What? That's it?!". It felt so rushed, and even the bonus after-story missions don't help the case much.[/rantmode]
It could just be us looking at the past through rose-tinted glasses. It could also be me not having much experience with modern games, too, come to think of it... It's not easy keeping with the times when you're swimming in a sea of shooters and sports games and you're not exactly a fan of either genre.
Either way, though, I really don't think I'd like to play an RPG that boasts 100+ hours of gameplay only to spend at least a third of it wondering about the relevance of this quest I'm required to do or running around talking to every NPC ever (yeah, even the one hidden behind a building that no one tells you about) because the plot calls for it. Excessive padding is just as bad as having none at all. The proper balance has to be found.
[rantmode]Except maybe Summon Night Twin Age. I got it thinking I could use a nice non-Mega Man/Pokémon RPG for my DS and that it looked at least a little entertaining, but I cleared one of the two characters' stories in under ten hours thinking "What? That's it?!". It felt so rushed, and even the bonus after-story missions don't help the case much.[/rantmode]
It could just be us looking at the past through rose-tinted glasses. It could also be me not having much experience with modern games, too, come to think of it... It's not easy keeping with the times when you're swimming in a sea of shooters and sports games and you're not exactly a fan of either genre.
Either way, though, I really don't think I'd like to play an RPG that boasts 100+ hours of gameplay only to spend at least a third of it wondering about the relevance of this quest I'm required to do or running around talking to every NPC ever (yeah, even the one hidden behind a building that no one tells you about) because the plot calls for it. Excessive padding is just as bad as having none at all. The proper balance has to be found.